In Another Life
by McMahonHelmsleyEraFan
Summary: The night of Hunter and Stephanie's wedding vow renewals goes terribly awry. Hunter is given a chance to make things right. But all opportunities come with a cost...and he's not sure he's prepared to pay this one.
1. Chapter 1

So...yeah. I wrote exactly one paragraph on this, years ago and never felt inclined to continue or post it. Blame Caty that one chapter of this got finished and saw the light of day. LOL. And despite the semi-wacky idea, let me know what you think!

It's basically "Butterfly Effect" meets "Bedazzled" I suppose.

* * *

Long after everyone else had departed, Hunter remained.

Half of this afternoon's attendees had given him dirty looks throughout the proceedings. The other half had been sympathetic towards him. The latter understood the entirety of the situation: that no matter what had gone down between them, he was very much in love with Stephanie.

He hung his head shamefully, forcing his blonde locks to cascade around his face. Loved. The word was loved. Past tense. Not because his feelings had vanished, but because Stephanie was gone.

The woman was a complete force of nature when she wanted something…or, she had been. And when it was all said and done, she'd lost the will to fight. The fact that he'd been a large part of why she'd given up on life tore his gut into pieces. So much so that when he received a visit from the police regarding the accident, he'd promptly thrown up onto the nearest surface.

When medical professionals arrived, she'd still been breathing, but barely. Wearing the same dress she had been during the renewal of their vows. Clutching his wedding ring tightly in her palm, in the same hand that she wore hers on. The symbolism was unmistakable for him and anyone else that knew her well. That's why the majority of her family and friends detested him.

Everyone else ruled it as an accident, said that Stephanie was disoriented from the night's events…

That she'd gone looking for the limousine she'd arrived in and couldn't find it. Of course that was because he'd taken it and left her at the arena. Instead of returning inside, she wandered about in a daze, until she ended up on the street, where a car struck her.

Hunter knew this woman better than most. None of the shit her family or anyone else pulled had driven her to disorientation. Hell, even when she'd suffered head trauma she remained remarkably intact.

So either he'd screwed her up so bad that her brain shut down or she'd well and fully intended to die that night because of what happened between them. Either way it was his fault that she was…gone.

Stephanie Marie McMahon-Helmsley was gone from the world forever and he had no idea how to deal with it. The images of her smiling face began to play through his mind. The sound of her laughter, smell of her hair and feel of her skin were fresh in his memory and attacking him all at once. Feeling devoid of all energy and hope, he crumbled to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

Nobody was around, so he allowed the tears to flow freely. They shook his body with their intensity and choked him with their utter vengeance. He'd been a terrible husband and now he would never have the chance to make it right. He could never tell Stephanie that he was sorry or let her know how much he loved and appreciated her and all she did for him.

Not only had _he _lost Stephanie, but everyone else who cared for her had lost her as well. It was unbearable to think that he'd never experience being with her in any way, shape or form again.

"Oh, God!" He sobbed. "Why?" He questioned, looking up at the sky as if he was waiting on an answer. The sky remained silent, except for dropping a few beads of wetness around him. Hunter ran his hands over his face wearily and simply stared at the inscription on Stephanie's grave. Vince had fought him on including the part about her being a loving wife. As shitty and broken as Hunter felt, he hadn't had the energy to fight back.

Although no paperwork of any kind had been drawn up, he had indeed made his separation from her public. To be honest, he had no idea what his plans would have been from there. She'd died under an hour later. And now he feared that anything he thought or said on the matter was tainted by the tragedy. "Please."

Fuck it; he didn't even know what he was saying or what exactly he was begging for. "Bring…bring her back. I – I can't…" he trailed off on another round of tears. The cool wetness of the grass met with his face as he lay down next to her final resting place.

Maybe if he lay here long enough, he'd join her in death. God knows he had absolutely fucking _nothing _to live for now. No kids, because they'd postponed having them until his career was more stable. And when it seemed those plans had fallen through, it turned out to be a lie. The career he'd neglected her for was certainly gone, for obvious reasons. Added to the fact that he couldn't even stand looking in the mirror after all of this shit…and it really seemed he had no reason to get up from this spot.

"I…I'd do anything," he mumbled softly. "I – w-w-want her back," he stuttered out through his shaky breaths. He allowed his eyes to slip closed as the rain began to fall harder.

* * *

Hunter opened his eyes a sliver and quickly tensed up and shut them again. What the hell was with the lights? Jesus. Many times, he'd woken up only to find himself under the brighter lights of a hospital room. But this was beyond that in terms of illumination. It felt like he may go fucking blind. But maybe that was because his eyes had yet to adjust.

With that thought in mind, Hunter risked another glance through his eyelids and found that it wasn't quite as bad as the first time. Slowly, he adjusted and was able to open his eyes fully. He groaned and pushed himself to sit up on his knees. He looked all around him, finding nothing but an expanse of bright whiteness.

"Hello?" He called out, moving to stand up.

A…well, he wasn't sure what it was exactly, appeared out of nowhere before him.

"Ah, you're awake!" It exclaimed, with almost a melodic voice.

Hunter eyed the thing quizzically, deducing that based on appearance and tone, it was a male. He ignored the lighthearted opening and instead asked, "Where the hell am I?"

"That's always everyone's first question," the creature sighed, its expansive wings following the movement of the rest of its body. Its face was oddly baby-like. "You notice the lighting and nothingness and it goes right over your heads that _I'm _here," it complained in a huff.

"Uh huh," Hunter muttered and started to pinch himself. Surely this was a-

"You're not dreaming."

"Am I-"

"You're not dead, either," it told him, seeming rather bored. It must experience this a lot.

All of a sudden, Hunter remembered exactly what had gone on before he woke up in this eerie place with an overgrown infant. He'd been wallowing in self-pity and despair, next to Stephanie's grave. He'd been hoping to die…but this…thing said that he hadn't.

"My name is Nathaniel and I'm an angel," it told him proudly. "I can hear your thoughts," it explained after Hunter looked on in astonishment.

"Why am I here? I…put me back! Uh, on Earth! I don't want to live. So if I'm not dead, put me back in the cemetery so I can starve and get hypothermia from the rain and die."

"Oh, that won't do. A member of your family has already come here too soon. We can't have another! He would be highly displeased-"

"What?" Hunter asked, wrinkling his nose in confusion. "Nobody in my family has…oh. Stephanie? Stephanie died too young?"

"Indeed."

Hunter somehow managed to smile brighter than the strange, sterile, blinding whiteness that he was apparently trapped in. But the space didn't matter. Stephanie had died before her time. They had to send her back. His prayer – or whatever - was being answered. Thank God.

"It doesn't work that way, Hunter. Your wife is _already _dead. You're here with me now because you're still alive."

"Bring her back to life…I'm sure you have powers. Or – or trade me for her! Please!" Hunter insisted.

"Despite our powers, we do have established rules."

"Great! Yeah, great. Whatever it takes."

"Up here, boss is really set on the number three. The Trinity, I imagine," Nathaniel explained. "These are the rules, Hunter. You have three prayers that are guaranteed to be answered immediately. Understand that your prayer will have a domino effect on the reality as you knew it. You'll have all of your memories, but for everyone else nothing has changed. While in the alternate reality, you may call on me at any time. I cannot tell you the outcome of your choices, nor advise you on what to pray for. You may ask a total of three questions in each reality. You can ask whatever you like."

"Can I – I don't know – mix and match at all? Trade a prayer for a question or vice versa?"

"These are the rules," the angel reiterated.

"Okay," Hunter said, nodding his head in determination. "Then I want to go back to the night Steph died. Take me back to the moment after she said her vows to me."

"Is that your prayer?"

Hunter considered. Although things had been complete shit in his marriage after his injury, he'd never actually entertained the idea of leaving her. Even finding out that she'd hired an actor to play a doctor to assist her with a fake pregnancy hadn't pushed him over the edge. Not until he'd gone out to the ring and heard her ramble on about her love and affection for him and whatnot. It was like he'd heard everything she said, through filtered ears.

Poison. He'd taken it all in as poison intended to destroy him and as a result he'd completely fucking snapped. Nathaniel said that he'd have all of his memories. So that meant he could change the outcome. He could keep his cool long enough to get Steph in private to talk about things. It seemed like a good, solid plan. And even if his relationship wasn't totally smoothed over, it couldn't possibly result in her wandering into traffic and thusly her death. "That's my prayer," he confirmed.

Nathaniel nodded and opened his wings, enveloping him in the array of feathers. Hunter hadn't been expecting that, and actually yelped as the bright world was overcome by darkness.

Hunter opened his eyes and gasped, looking around frantically. He heard a roar and blinked hard, realizing that it was the crowd cheering him. He was in the ring. He shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs it was currently experiencing. Maybe he'd just blacked the fuck out during the ceremony because he was so angry with Stephanie.

Stephanie. His brown eyes slowly tracked over and there she was. Happy, healthy and most importantly, alive. She was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and nervousness, awaiting his custom vows, just like the rest of the world was.


	2. Chapter 2

Hunter continued to stand there, completely stupefied as he stared at Stephanie. There were a million thoughts racing through his mind. One of them was wondering if the whole bit with the angel stuff was even real. But even if it was, she wouldn't know. This would classify as an alternate reality and only he'd have the memories of the former ones.

The minister cleared his throat and said lowly, "Hunter. Your vows."

Shit. Well, He was unwilling to bring up anything regarding their impending parenthood, because it was still a lie. Actually, he couldn't say any of what he said before. He knew where that route led. The only thing he could think to do was to replace his words with what was truly in his heart at this moment.

Hunter swallowed hard, reaching out to grab her left hand in his. He ignored the concern in her eyes because it would be his undoing. He was dangerously close to fucking up this ceremony yet again. Only this time it would be with tears and rambling that'd certainly have him committed to a psych ward by the end of the night. "Stephanie, we've had our ups and downs. We've _done_ and _said_ some things to each other that were wrong." He stopped talking and while his eyes remained relatively kind, the look that he gave her was meaningful.

Stephanie felt terrible. And that was before she wondered if Hunter knew the truth. It was odd to say, but it was a miracle that she'd been able to keep up the ecstatic charade for so long. For the most part it was Hunter's excitement rubbing off on her. When he wasn't around, she felt completely wretched. Looked at herself in the mirror every day and just cried like a baby because of what she'd done and was continuing to do. Regardless of their numerous problems, he didn't deserve this level of dishonesty from her. And quite frankly, she expected more of herself but still couldn't bring herself to clue him in that she was faking the pregnancy. Her blue eyes filled to the brim with tears at the flurry of self-depreciating thoughts running through her mind.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him, away from the mics. "I-I lied to you."

Hazel eyes watched her carefully as her head lowered shamefully.

"But I still love you, Stephanie," he admitted, continuing his speech as if she hadn't said anything.

At this, her gaze met his again. She was shocked…and undeniably touched. This man could hold a grudge like no other and yet it sounded like he was forgiving her for the awful lie she told. She still felt terribly guilty and would for a long time. Perhaps she wasn't the monster she'd begun to think of herself as, though.

Several moments of silence passed between husband and wife as both tried to keep a lid on their emotions. Stephanie had no idea why Hunter was also tearing up, but she had to assume that whatever the cause, it was why he wasn't currently screaming at her that their marriage was over. She allowed the flowers to fall from her hands. "I can't do this," she said into the mic. Wearily she dragged a hand across her cheeks to wipe away the tears.

"Steph-" Hunter began.

"No, I can't!" She interrupted, sniffling. "You didn't want this ceremony. I-"

Vince slithered up to her side and pulled on her arm gently. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Vince, stay out of this," Hunter sighed, rubbing at his temples. For God's sake, he tried to have a real, honest moment with Stephanie by allowing himself to pretend the rest of the world wasn't eagerly listening. Leave it up to Stephanie's father to ruin it.

"I will not! I paid for this spectacle even after she and her brother tried to ruin me."

"Vince!" Hunter yelled. "Now is _not _the time!"

The older man recoiled a bit at the pure rage he saw building up in Hunter's eyes. He watched on in silence as the blonde extended his hand to Stephanie, an invitation to leave with him. She looked reluctant, skeptical and fearful and wasn't even trying to hide that. After glancing over her shoulder at her father, she turned to Hunter and placed her hand in his.

Vince was completely baffled and completely unhappy as the two exited the ring and went up the ramp together.

* * *

In the limo, Stephanie sat with her hands clutching her knees. She had so much nervous energy, it was a wonder she hadn't jumped out of the moving vehicle already. Once they made it to their locker room, away from the prying eyes and ears of WWF staff and talent, she'd attempted to broach a conversation. Hunter had stared at her and then shook his head to indicate for her to shut up.

Strangely, he'd held her hand on the way to the car. He hadn't spoken a single word to her since leaving the ceremony…but the small display of affection was good. Him saying that he still loved her earlier was even better. She wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he wouldn't look at or talk to her the entire twenty minute ride back to their hotel.

The car rolled to a stop and to her surprise, Hunter helped her out…and kept holding her hand until they'd made it to their room. He slid the key card into the slot and they waited until the blinker turned green.

Stephanie couldn't help but gulp. Love or no love, Hunter was too calm. He'd cursed her out and destroyed property over her committing far less serious offenses. If he killed her in this room, people would figure it out.

No, that was a terrible thought. She'd know if the man was capable of such a thing. She spent nearly every day of the last two-plus years with him.

The door closed behind them and Hunter walked ahead of her, plopping down into a lounge chair in the living room area. He leaned his head back into the cushion and closed his eyes.

Stephanie took a seat in a nearby chair and sighed. "Hunter-"

"Shut up, Stephanie!"

Her eyes stung with unshed tears. But she dared not utter a word because she deserved every ounce of negativity he was sending her way.

They remained in silence for the next minute or so. At some point, Hunter lifted his head and his stare basically pinned her to this very spot. She felt vulnerable and exposed under his intense look. How could he still be so very attractive to her while all but shooting lasers at her from his eyes?

Hunter didn't know what he was supposed to feel. When Stephanie was…well, when she was gone he knew he felt extreme remorse. He'd have sold his soul to the devil himself to get her back. Only now that he had her, he had no idea what the fuck to do with her. Especially since she didn't remember the "accident" that took her life nor their harsh and violent interaction that preceded it. So he couldn't ask what the fuck she'd been thinking when she wandered into traffic. Couldn't scold her on the fact that even without him, her life was worth living.

But he could ask her this, "Why?"

"Huh?" Stephanie asked, momentarily dumbfounded.

"Why did you lie to me?" He asked outright. When she started to cry instead of actually responding, he found himself getting pissed off all over again. He stood up and paced the floor as if he wanted to wear a hole into the carpet. He ignored the sobs of his spouse behind him. The next thing he knew, he grabbed the gift basket of champagne, apple cider and other goodies that the hotel had left for them on the coffee table. He poured himself a glass and downed it in one huge gulp. He stared down at Stephanie. But she wasn't looking at him; her face was buried in her hands.

This gift basket ended up with them because the hotel thought they'd want to celebrate the renewing of their marriage vows. Because Stephanie was pregnant, the cider was supposed to be for her.

What a laugh that was, now. Bitterly tickled, he poured another glass and held it out to her. "Have a drink."

Stephanie looked up at him, misery and confusion evident on her face. She shook her head slowly, conveying that she didn't want any. "But thanks."

Hunter looked offended. "I try to be nice and you reject my offer," he chuckled.

"That's not-"

"I don't know why you wouldn't want a sip. It's not as if you're pregnant…because you're a fucking liar!"

"Hunter, I'm sorry!"

"The fuck you are, Stephanie!" He shouted. "You're sorry you got caught!" With that, he downed the glass in his hand.

Stephanie's blue eyes lowered to the ground and stayed there as if she was seeing something fascinating. There was nothing she could say or do to make this better. She just had to be honest and hope that was enough to get him to calm down…at least a little bit. Slowly, she stood up. "I felt terrible," she admitted.

Hunter spared her a disbelieving glance, but said nothing.

"I did," she insisted. "Whenever we were apart I just…bawled until my eyes were raw and my voice was hoarse. I was miserable, I-"

"I'm gonna need a stronger drink," he said out loud, stalking away from her.

Stephanie hung her head dejectedly, but after a minute she decided to go after him. If he was planning on getting drunk, that meant her time to plead her case was that much more limited. It was crucial that he not go to bed loathing the very ground she walked on. Otherwise she may lose him forever. She had to make him see that they had something worth saving.

Upon entering the next room, she found him in the mini-bar. Somehow, he'd already raided the damn thing because several…what did people call them? Nibbles? No, nips. Several nips – very tiny bottles of liquor – were scattered around his general area.

Stephanie was horrified. She'd never seen him drink this much. Not even during his DX days. He would say that _she _was his alcohol. She made him feel silly, stupid, giddy and loving. He didn't need anything else, but if it made her feel like less of a drunk, he would take a few sips from her drink. They'd laugh, flirt, joke, makeout like horny teenagers no matter who was watching. God, she missed those days like hell.

"Hunter?" She said, lifting her small hand to rest on his back. "Stop this."

Hunter turned around and simply looked down at her. He worked his jaw around, as if what he wanted to say was refusing to leave his mouth. The next thing he knew, he pitched the small, now-empty bottle of whiskey forward. A small part of him was satisfied when Stephanie flinched.

His questions fired at her with escalating speed and volume. "How the fuck could you do this to me? Was I such a terrible husband that you felt you needed to do this? Or was it just for some dumb ceremony?" He shook his head in disgust at the sight of her tears. "_You _did this, Steph! So stop fucking crying!"

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I really do feel bad?" She shouted at him through her tears.

Hunter opened his mouth, but she chose to interrupt him.

"I love you, Hunter!" He scoffed and she ignored him. "I know that what I did makes you question that. The pregnancy lie was horrible and I wish I could take it back but I can't!"

"Bullshit! You had so many chances to come clean, Stephanie. You passed them all by and continued until I…" Hunter stopped himself before he said too much. He couldn't blame _this _Stephanie because the other one kept on with the charade until he totally blew his lid by calling her a bitch, ending their marriage, pedigreeing her father and pie-facing the woman herself.

The whole thing made him ponder. In this world, his vows to her had been different. They'd made her guilt flare up so overwhelmingly that she admitted her wrongdoing and called off the very ceremony that made her tell the lie in the first place. Stephanie was technically the same as she had been before. Nothing changed on her end because she didn't have the otherworldly knowledge that he did. He changed his behavior and thusly, she changed hers.

Well, watching the person you love be lowered six feet into the ground tended to induce untold changes, he imagined.

Stephanie eyed him quizzically. She'd been wondering where exactly that comment was leading. But since he seemed much calmer now, she chose not to remind him that he didn't finish his thoughts.

"I just…wanted to feel loved again, Hunter."

"You could've told me that."

"I tried! You weren't interested," she said woefully.

"Don't!" He warned her. "Don't stand there and tell me what my interests are."

"Effort is the best indicator of interest."

Hunter threw his hands up in the air. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You didn't try anymore. It was like you didn't care about me or my feelings…whether or not this marriage survived."

"What marriage, Stephanie? You're faking pregnancies supposedly because I'm such a shitty husband. All we do is argue and fight-"

"It wasn't always this way."

Hunter shrugged. "Things change. People change."

"Please!" She snorted. "We're still the same narcissistic, conniving trainwrecks that we were two years ago."

"If that's true then how the fuck did we get here, Stephanie? Can you answer that?" He questioned loudly.

"We saw each other as equals - allies. Somewhere along the way we started acting like enemies. Right around the time I got involved with ECW and WCW, made worse by your return to the ring."

So, she had a point. Hunter didn't appreciate that Stephanie had technically sided with companies that people like him had busted their asses trying to outdo. It was much like spitting in the face of all the blood, sweat, aches, bruises and injuries he'd received on the course of making WWF number one. The fact that this all happened while he was injured and damn near immobilized was just icing on top of the shit-cake.

Of course he couldn't tell Stephanie that. To her this was a business decision. So he'd largely kept his mouth shut and told her to do whatever the fuck she wanted with her damn money. In those exact words. And when her decision to bring on the Olympic Twerp, Kurt Angle resulted in the destruction of her venture, he hadn't exactly consoled her. He'd focused even harder on rehab and training solely so Vince and Linda could see he was and always had been Team WWF, despite his wife's actions.

And…maybe instead of simply thinking all of this, he should tell her. Maybe.

"I felt…personally insulted that you took on two companies me and the boys worked so hard to put out of business. Even if you'd beaten WWF…I…I don't know what I would have felt. Bitter and angry, most likely. But you lost and had made such a clusterfuck of your money that I had to help you out. Pissed me off."

"You gave me the go ahead to buy ECW. You knew it was a financial risk, Hunter. We're married…we've always shared our responsibilities with money."

Hunter shrugged. "Yeah, well. That's how I felt." It didn't have to make any damn sense. And to prove his knowingly childish stance on the matter, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Anything else?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "Your parents already didn't like me. Even before we got married. I was determined to bust my ass to show that despite what you did, I was still loyal to the company they'd built and could still go the distance."

"I would've understood that! Jesus, why couldn't you just say any of this to me?"

"Because that also meant that I needed you to stay away. How the hell was I supposed to show loyalty to them, while I have you prancing around acting like you still owned a piece of the WWF. Bossing people around, starting arguments and shit-"

"All right! All right, I get it. I was…I was insecure. I admit that. I didn't know where I fit in anymore. It felt like you hated me, my parents hated me, the locker room hated me even more than they already had…so…I don't know…I became an asshole."

Hunter laughed at her bluntness. It was probably the first time he laughed tonight that didn't have any bitterness or sarcasm behind it. It was a genuine laugh, brought out by the simple fact that he enjoyed being with Stephanie. Sometimes, anyway.

"I can be a lot of things, Hunter. But your enemy was never one of them."

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

"Even though you really should have told me how you felt about ECW…I did sense, from your colorful, vulgar version of encouragement that you weren't very happy with me for considering the deal. But I wanted it…I wanted the company and a chance to take out my Dad and build this whole new entity. I figured if you couldn't plainly tell me what your damn problem was, so be it. That was wrong. I'm sorry for that. And for the way I've been acting ever since."

Hunter nodded and tentatively stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Promises get broken too much. You have my word that I will never lie to you again, Hunter," she swore. When he didn't respond verbally, she added quietly, "If – I mean, if you'll still have me."

Now that he was no longer seeing red and she was no longer sobbing her heart out, the enormity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. For Stephanie it didn't feel this way, but he…missed her so very much. For the last week she'd been gone from his life and the world in general. The pain had been unbearable.

Hunter laid his lips over hers gently. "No choice."

Stephanie smiled wearily. "I think all that alcohol mixing is kicking in."

"Maybe," he admitted, but exerted great concentration not to sway and prove her point further. Even though she was right and he did feel quite drunk. "But I still know you can't be gone. I can't take it."

Stephanie tilted her head and wrinkled her nose curiously. What the hell? If anybody was going to leave anybody tonight, it would've been him. On the heels of her lie, that made the most sense. He didn't give her a chance to voice that very opinion because he clutched her in a hug so tight it nearly stole her breath.

"Don't leave me," he begged.

Stephanie was rightfully confused and highly concerned for him. She could count on one hand the amount of times she'd seen this man cry. Even during those incidents, there'd be _maybe _a teardrop or two before he composed himself. Right now, however, he was actually going to pieces with his head buried in her neck. She didn't have any idea what to do except return the hug as best she could. "I won't leave you."

Poor man. The constant stress, bottling his feelings up, pressure of his return and being the sole breadwinner…the lie coming out and now finally, she was sure he was completely hammered. She rubbed his back soothingly and just kept repeating that she wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

Hey guys! Loved the response on chapter 2. Just as an FYI, I'm planning on roughly 3-5 chapters in each "alternate reality" so we can see what happens as a result of the prayer and so forth. That'd put this story at no more than 15 chapters for sure.

Let me know if you'd like this one to continue, via reviews!


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